Got Your Back
by AJJary
Summary: An Angel is a doctor with special training that enables them to bring people back from the brink of death. Angel Charlotte is presumed dead, having been missing for 2 months. When she over hears plans on attacking the field hospital whilst looking after Captain Nicholls, they both go to warn them.
1. Chapter 1

Her ears hurt almost as much as her eyes did. The battle had ended almost an hour ago, though she stayed close to the ground as she searched through the bodies. She was searching for signs of life, but every single person she had come across had been cold beneath her fingers. She looked up and glanced around, she didn't have long until night fell and the Germans came back and made sure that they were all dead. She crawled over to the next body and pressed her fingers to the pulse point, already knowing that it would be silent and cold. Her eyes widened when she felt their pulse, it was faint and erratic, but it was there. She looked the young man up and down before noting how close to death they were, their body had several bullet holes in. She almost left him their to die, but his eyes fluttered and she knew he felt the pain. With a sigh she grabbed the man and pulled him over her shoulder before standing up and walking back the way she had come.

"I have your back soldier, don't worry. Leave the mess for the nurse to clean." she muttered as sweat beaded on her forehead. It wasn't a long walk to where she had made her base, but it always seemed longer with someone on her back. Always. She was glad she had rigged a rope lift to carry them up. Breathing heavily she put him on the rope lift and climbed up into the not so abandoned tree house and started to pull him up. With a final tug she tied the lift up and walked to the door that had been cut into the wall and pulled him in. Quickly pulling the rope ladder she had used to get in up she sat down for a second and took in his wounds. He had been shot several times, one in what looked like his heart but clearly couldn't be if he was alive, another in his gut and one in the back at a similar angle. She furrowed her brows and undid her shoes before standing up. Her shoes made a lot of noise and the Germans patrolled here nightly.

She grabbed a cloth and a bowl and walked over to the cistern, filling the bowl with rainwater. Setting the bowl down beside her she rolled her sleeves up and unbuttoned his jacket. A journal fell out of his jacket pocket as she slipped it off, a bullet hole through the leather. The journal had saved his life. But only just. The bullet had still got him but instead it had hit something less vital. She unbuttoned his bloodied shirt and grabbed the cloth from the bowl, cleaning away as much blood as she could. 3 bullet wounds, one to his left side, the one that had been aimed at his heart, one to his stomach and one to his lower right side.

She wiped her head with the back of her hand as she looked around the room, searching for her needle and thread. Spotting them she got up and grabbed them, opening the new packet as she sat down. She threaded the needle and leant over him to pull the bullet out and stitch up the wound to his left side. It was the most vital at the moment, he was loosing a lot of blood from it as it was the closest to his heart. She did the same for the others and her eyes constantly flicked up to his face, looking for signs that he could feel. Signs that he was close to the surface. Only once did she get any. His eyebrows furrowed as she reached inside his stomach with tweezers to grab the bullet. She wiped the blood away again then bandaged his chest and stomach up, placing extra fabric over the wounds in an attempt to soak up the blood. She washed her hands with the cloth then put the bowl aside. She would have to wait until morning to dump the water. She stood up and was about to jump out of the hide when she heard the gunfire. She was too late to save anyone else. She bit her lip and pulled herself back in.

"Looks like only one tonight." She sat down and covered her ears as she watched him breathing. Now that he was stable, enough, she finally got a chance to take in his appearance. He was probably in his late 20s similar in age to her, and he had gingery blond hair. She had no idea what his eyes were like, he hadn't opened them yet, but she could guess at blue from the hair colour. That or grey. He was decent enough, though she herself wasn't attracted to him, she could see that many women would like him. She also noticed that he wore a captains epaulette, an officer. Great, the only one she could save was an arrogant, ignorant, pompous member of the high class. She glared at him then turned her attention to the small door on her right. She could perfectly see the patrol route from where she was sat, they would be starting the rounds soon.

It was 2 nights before he started to show any signs of waking. She was sat at her usual evening spot when she heard them talking about the Allies field hospital 10 miles to the north. She reached for her small pistol next to her and stood up, they were clearly discussing a raid on allied nurses. She started to stand up when the captain started to make noises of waking. Her eyes widened and she turned to face him, glancing at the Germans below her who started to turn to face her. She made a jump for him and let go of her gun, placing her hand over his mouth. His eyes fluttered open with a moan, blue, and he looked up at her. She quickly cast at glance at the doorway as a torch beam passed it.

"I need you to be quiet, okay. Can you do that?" she whispered. He nodded and she removed her hand and crawled back to where she had been sat.

"Es war wahrscheinlich ein eichhornchen," they said. _It was probably a squirrel._ She smirked and stood up slowly so as not to make a noise.

"Es hat sehr menschlich geklungen." _It sounded very human_.There was a sigh and then the torch was shone up again, she tilted backwards but she knew that they had seen her.

"Scheisse." She ducked down and leant her elbow on her knee, before aiming her pistol. She shot one through the chest, he was dead before he hit the ground. She hit the other in the shoulder he held his gun with, she wanted to talk to him. She stood back up and was about to jump down when a bullet embedded itself in the wood. She dropped down to the ground and shot the third man through the chest.

She walked over to the man she had shot in the arm and stood over him, pistol aimed at him.

"What are the plans for the allied hospital?" She hissed as she knelt down on his chest when he didn't reply. "I know you understood me, I've heard you speak English before." she pressed the boiling hot barrel against his ear. He flinched and let out a cry.

"They plan an attack on them, kill the moral as well as the troops." She pressed the barrel against his forehead and asked him again.

"When?"

"A week, please don't shoot me." She smiled at him sweetly before pulling the trigger.

"Sorry, but I cant do that now you know where I am." She holstered her pistol and picked the man up, dragging him away from her small camp and leaving him behind a tree 30 meters away. She did the same for the other men, grabbing their first aid kits and storing them in her pocket. She didn't realise how long it had taken her but the sun was coming up when she pulled the rope ladder down so she could climb up. She emptied her pockets then pulled the ladder back up before turning back to the Captain.

"Can I talk now?" he whispered cautiously.

"Yes. Here." She poured him a tumbler of scotch and handed it to him. "It'll take the edge off. Welcome back to the living Captain." He took the scotch and let it trickle down his dry throat before he spoke aloud.

"What happened? Where am I?" he asked as he struggled to sit up. Quickly she went behind him and pulled him so that he was resting against the wall.

"Your fellow cavalry men were mowed down by machine guns when you charged into their camp. You were the only one I could save. Which is why you are here." His blue eyes widened.

"What about Major Stewart?" She shook her head and took back the glass of scotch, refilling it.

"Even if he survived the initial wave of destruction and death, he would have been killed by them the night I brought you back. If he had been lucky enough to look dead and not be shot through the head he would have died of his wounds by now. Sorry." She handed him back the glass and he downed the contents even though it burned his throat.

"What is your name?" he asked as he put the glass on the floor, turning the conversation off the hurting subject. She raised an eyebrow and sat down with a sigh.

"Charlotte. And yourself if I may be so bold?" The captain winced slightly as he shifted. She looked down at his bandages and noticed the blood staining the bandages. She cursed and got onto her knees and started to unwrap his bandages, reaching for the clean set on her left. The movement of getting up had pulled the stitches and the wounds had started bleeding again. She left the clean bandages in his lap and grabbed the cloth she had used to clean his wounds that morning. She sat down beside him and cleaned out the wounds before bandaging them back up. He let out a breath and replied to her earlier question.

"Captain Nicholls, James Nicholls." She sat back on her heels and let out a sigh, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Well Captain Nicholls, we have to get going, they plan on attacking the allied hospital next week. Do you think you can stand?" she asked as she herself stood up and grabbed his shirt and jacket, handing them to him. He struggled up and used the wooden wall to aid him. His wounds fast bled through the bandages, even faster when he stood up straight. He took his shirt from her and turned so that he could get changed. He hadn't realised that he hadn't had a top on. She moved around him and grabbed a small water canister and walked to the cistern to fill it. She quickly tied it around her waist and grabbed another, handing it to him when it was full. He drank it thirstily, water dripping down his chin. She laughed lightly when he handed it back to her empty. She refilled it and gave it back to him, he looked guiltily at it.

"If you are still thirsty then drink it." He held it to his mouth and took a sip, then another. He forced himself to stop and screwed the cap back on the bottle, putting it on his belt. She walked over to a small drawer and pulled out a ration pack. "Here, eat this. It's a two hour ride to the hospital so we need to get going." He nodded and opened a small pack of oat biscuits as she stared to untie the knot that kept the lift off the floor. "Get on the lift." He was glad that she knew what she was doing, because the pain was stopping him from thinking properly.

She followed after him and slowly started letting the rope out of her hands. It was a short drop to the floor and he almost fell off the lift as dizziness over whelmed him. He stumbled towards the tree trunk and rested against it, taking in the feel of the bark, associating himself with the world around him.

"Sit down if you need to." He shook his head and stood up straight, only to double over from pain. She tied off the rope lift and walked over to him, pulling his arm over her shoulder in an attempt to support him. "Yet again, I've got your back." She lead them to a stable half a mile away where she let go of his arm and let him stand on his own and mounted the horse.

"I'm not sure I can." She clenched her jaw and looked down at him.

"Get up, now." He sighed and took a deep breath before mounting the stead behind her. She spurred the horse as soon as he was on, making him grab her around the waist. He was glad for it though as it meant he didn't have to excuse grabbing her, it meant he didn't have to admit to hurting so badly that he could barely make out her brown hair.


	2. Chapter 2

She was right about the timing. It took 2 hours exactly. Even though it was little before 9 o'clock the place buzzed with life and smelt of death. She jumped down and waited for him to dismount before walking into the building. It was an old school house that had recently been abandoned. He struggled to stand up as the stench added to his dizziness. She noticed and turned to support him but he stood up straighter and walked alongside her.

"Where are we going Miss- I don't know your last name." She rolled her eyes and continued.

"That's because I didn't tell you. We're going to the head nurses office. She needs to know what is going on. Besides, its Mrs." She pushed open a door and stepped aside automatically as a bed was wheeled past.

"Thank you-" one of the nurses stopped and let go of the bed. Another tutted and glanced at her. Her eyes widened. "Lottie." She looked at the man on the bed, he was in dire need of surgery, clearly where they were taking him, and gestured for them to continue as she pushed past them. Her shoes clicked against the floor as she walked around the many beds filled with the injured men and boys and the newly dead. She ignored the whispers that ignited the moment she stepped through the door.

"Is that Charlotte, an angel?"

"I thought she had died."

"Clearly not-" The door closed behind them as they entered a smaller room filled with high ranking officers. Two more nurses noticed their presence and the determination in both of their eyes. Another door was at the end of the room, a sign saying that it was the head nurses room, and she started towards it. She span around as he placed a hand on the wall.

"Dear lord, just let them treat you. Just because you're a captain and of the higher class does not mean that you are immortal. Stand down Captain." He looked about to protest but the pain in his chest must have said otherwise as he nodded and sat down on the nearest available bed. She opened the door as a younger nurse left, red hair in a tight bun.

"Why if it isn't Angel Lottie, did you know that of the 45 that were trained you're the last one, well no there is Susan but she went home last month." An older nurse stood by a sink, her once blonde hair greying, as she washed her hands.

"That bad huh? Well its about to get worse, the Germans' plan on attacking here in a week. Everyone needs to leave." The older nurse stilled and turned to face her properly.

"What has the war done to yer head lass? Why would they attack us?"

"To kill the moral. So that they can say that they killed wounded men and nurses and see the moral fall from the allies faces." She stepped forward and placed her hands on either side of the sink. The older nurse's face drained of colour as something else dawned on her.

"We can't get them all out in that amount of time, not with the equipment as well." She sighed and ran a hand trough her hair, still in a bun from dealing with Captain Nicholls's wounds.

"The next nearest is- 59 miles east. Through No Man's land. Looks like we are going to have to fight then. I believe you have a surgery to conduct, go, we'll discuss this more after." The older nurse, she recognised her as the one they had oh so affectionately named Scotty during training, nodded and left the room. She followed after her and stopped at the sight of the two nurses swooning over the Captain.

"Do you know if anyone from the clash 3 nights ago made it here?" They just ignored him and continued faffing with his jacket. She rolled her eyes and glared at them.

"He asked if any of his flying column made it here." She walked towards them and grabbed his jacket off of one of them and handed it back to him. The women processed this and one nodded, the one with red hair, and started towards another bed in the room.

" Sergeant Charlie Waverly, came in 3 days ago, went cold this morning." She could tell he recognised the name. His eyebrows furrowed as he stood up and started towards the bed. She walked in front of him and placed a hand on his chest to stop him.

"You don't want to." A strand of her brown hair fell in front of her grey eyes as she shook her head.

"What do they mean by went cold?" She could see in his eyes that he already knew what they meant.

"He died. That's what they meant." He glanced behind her and took in the dead body of his friend.

"He had a son. He'd just turned 3, he won't know his father." She shook her head and walked after him to the bed that held the sergeant.

"He will if you tell him, sit down and let them tend to your wounds, I have-"

"Angel Lottie, these men need you. Now." She span around and saw the young nurse from earlier standing at the door. Her hands were scrubbed raw and her apron was stained with blood. She turned back to the captain and gestured for him to sit back down as she left.

"Why do they call you an angel?" He asked as she was halfway across the room.

"Because I am part of the group trained specially to bring people back from the brink. That's how I saved you." She left and followed the nurse, unbuttoning her jacket and throwing it on the end of a bed as man after man was carried into the hospital.

It was just after midday when she got the break she had been promised an hour ago. She sat down heavily and took in a deep breath, trying to steady her shaking hands. Most of the men were stable now, the nurses had told her that they could handle the rest without her help and had dismissed her. She stretched and stood up to meander through the rooms. Scotty walked past her and pressed a water bottle in her hands, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled before unscrewing the cap and taking a drink, a small piece of paper crumpling in her hand. She walked through the main room and into the officers room, looking for Captain Nicholls. He was stood up now, all of the beds had been taken by the other soldiers that had come in, though he was leant against a wall.

"Where did the nurses go?" She asked as she walked over to him, checking the soldiers as she walked past them. He looked up at her and spoke.

" To bury him." he said as he held his hands in front of him. To her it was nothing, but it was becoming clear to her that he had never served before, he had seen nothing of war, this was the first man he had lost.

"Are you alright Captain?" she asked as she stepped closer and in front of him so he couldn't see the soldier that had replaced his friend. He looked at her, blue eyes full of unshed tears.

"Please don't call me Captain anymore. I don't want to be known by that anymore. I don't want to be known as it, people died because I held that title-" She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you want me to call you then?" He looked back up at her and paused before speaking.

"James, if I can call you Charlotte seeing as you won't give me a last name." She moved her hand from his shoulder and smiled.

"You didn't answer my question James, are you alright?" He nodded even though his hand creeped up to his stomach. "Sit down, or they'll discharge you and send you back out. Besides you can't be feeling that good." He sat down slowly on the nearest available seat.

"Why won't you tell me your last name?" he asked as she turned to one of the officers and set about fixing their bandages. She cast him a glance over her shoulder.

"I should have guessed how inquisitive you would be, your lot often are about my sort. I wouldn't tell you my name because the whole notion is very-" she paused when she turned around and saw the hurt look on his face. "What?"

"What did you mean by my lot?" She let out a sigh and leant against the bed.

"I meant an officer. A member of the higher class. Don't give me that look, you are clearly educated and well spoken, used to getting your way and never having to see the consequences. That's why you were so saddened by the death of your friend. If you had lived my life or perhaps even his, you wouldn't be so saddened by death. The naivety of the upper classes." She turned back around and started towards the next bed as he struggled to stand up. He winced and she turned quickly at the noise. "Sit down, your wounds still aren't healed."

"I'm not like them, technically I am but I don't want to be." He stood up straight and walked towards her. "Tell me, Charlotte, about yourself. You already know a lot about me from saving my life, could you perhaps tell me about yourself as you clearly hold a grudge against the upper class." She glared at him but he had got her in a metaphorical corner. If she didn't tell him he wouldn't trust her and would constantly be asking her, but if she did she would have told him her life story. She relented and sighed.

"Fine. I was born to the lower class in 1887 to a poor, illiterate family. They could tell I was smart so they got me books to read. As I grew I started to read up on medicine and how to cure people. In 1898 my brother fell ill with a common disease that had killed many poor. I had read up on it and knew the cure so I made some up and gave it to him, he got better. Soon I became the village nurse and when I was 20 I moved to London with my brother and husband, sealing my move to the middle class. I fell pregnant with twins 3 years ago and gave birth to a healthy boy and girl. 5 months ago my husband was conscripted and I went with him to war, as a nurse obviously. The children went to my mother, we thought we would be back by Christmas." She let out a small breath and clenched her fists.

"We all though it would be over by then." he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"2 months ago I got a letter that he had died in the war, but I already knew. I had held his hand as he had gone cold. My children have no father and barely know their mother. They were barely 2 when I left them." Her strong facade cracked and he wrapped her in a hug, even though she protested, her hands resting on his chest.

"I shouldn't have asked should I Charlotte?" She shook her head and stepped away from him, wiping her eyes and putting the facade back up.

"You are right, you shouldn't have, but I can't blame you. You've just lost everyone you trusted and I wouldn't tell you my last name. I'm sorry James, I should have told you that you could trust me at least." He flinched as he straightened up and she saw the blood seeping through the bandages again. "Dear lord James, stop moving so much." she said as she pushed him back onto the crate at the end of one of the soldiers beds and grabbed a new bandage for the wound. The two nurses that had gone to bury the dead, including his friend, came back and he looked away from them.

"I promised that if he died I would be there to see him buried." he said in a shaky voice. She looked up from the bandage and saw the tears in his eyes making her still in her work. She gently turned his face to her, his blue eyes flicking to hers then out the window high above them.

"You did the best you could James. You tried your best but you were too inured to see him laid to rest. But at least now his son will have closure. Now you can tell him that his father died with someone by his side." He looked at her, confused by her words.

"What do you mean I can tell him?" She looked up and smiled slightly.

"You're going home, once you're all healed up. Scotty handed me a note during my break. You get to tell him yourself James." His eyes widened further and she smiled slightly, though her face fell when the door slammed open.

"Lottie. We need a translator, he only speaks French." She tied off his bandage and left the room quickly following the other nurse. There were a few nurses gathered around even fewer soldiers and the nurse she was following lead her to an older soldier. Clearly their C.O.

"Mademoiselle-" she cut him off.

"Madame." He blinked slowly and nodded before continuing with an obvious slur.

"Madame, je ne peux pas sentir mon visage. Ils ont nous gazes." He took a deep breath as she relayed what he said to the other nurses. _Mrs, I can't feel my face. We were gassed._ In an instant the nurses started to move around, grabbing things from trays and walking in and out of the room to grab more equipment. She turned around and saw Scotty stood in the door way, gesturing for her to follow. She quickly excused herself as soon as she could move her hand from the man's gaping wound and followed after her.

"Call your soldier friend in, will ya Lottie?" She nodded and walked out of Scotty's office and was about to yell for James to get of his bum and get in the office, but then she saw him laying down on one of the crates and relented. Instead she walked over to him and gently shook his shoulder, careful of the wound just below his arm. He opened his eyes slowly and furrowed his eyebrows when the light started to creep in.

"Charlotte?" She smiled and grabbed his hand to help him up.

"Come on James, were talking about the attack on the hospital and we need you." He stood slowly and leant on her for support, finally starting to listen to her advice of not moving to much. He stood to attention when he entered the room, though he did so slowly under her glare.

"Lottie, tell me about this attack." Scotty said as she leant against her desk which had gone unused for a few days. She stepped forward and started to speak.

"Last night I heard a German soldier mention a planned attack on the field hospital, namely this one. I know this to be true because, until that night they didn't know I was there and the man I heard it from was of a high enough rank to be in the know." Scotty turned to him then.

"How high a rank would they have to be to be in the know of such things?" He pondered this as he looked between the 2 women.

"Probably lieutenant or sergeant. It really depends on how they are a part of it." Scotty turned to Lottie with a raised eyebrow.

"He was a sergeant, definitely the leader of the group. I had seen him walk that way before on duty. He would need to know such things." She flushed in anger as her hands curled into fists.

"Alright then. We need to prepare for this attack then. Sorry for doubting you Lottie."


End file.
